Finger pick mechanical help needed...

[Daniel Wanless]

Hello all, I've been playing lap steel for a little over 3 years. I'm looking for a general discussion on finger pick mechanics and recommendations on which picks to use and shaping them to fit my fingers. I've recently been reading and experimenting with various types of fingerpicks and I'm finding that I had not been shaping them adequately to fit my fingers. The result was that I believe that I was wearing them too far out on my finger and not shaping them enough to the contour of my fingertips. I can see now that my shaping is much better, which keeps me closer to the strings, but I have one persistent issue that I can't seem to escape and I'm wondering what others do to compensate. Let's say the issue is that if I'm picking adjacent strings, index on string 2 and middle on string 1, I often struggle to keep my index finger blocking string 2 without also touching string 1. To compensate, I naturally pull string 2 with my index so that I don't touch string 1 when it is plucked. Is this what everyone does and I'm already on the right track, or is there something else wrong in my technique that needs to be addressed? I read a tutorial by Buddy Emmons that said never use Dunlop picks for this very reason. I can't see how the subtle differences of other finger pick designs would solve the problem.

Help!

Tell me what finger picks you use and how you've reached this decision and how you compensate for adjacent higher strings to your index finger.

[Mark Mansueto]

I'm not an authority on this subject but I did have a thread on this last year:

viewtopic.php?t=354157&highlight=[/url]

For the record I'm still using Dunlops and have not found anything that works better for my needs. That said there are so many variables involved with picking like finger size, finger movement, hand position, etc, etc. In my case I like to contour my picks close to my fingers but I've seen great players that have them extended out quite far. I think having the pick extended may actually work better for people with large fingers because your fingers wouldn't need to extend between the strings.

[Erv Niehaus]

Mark,
I like Dunlops also.
You can buy them in various gauges.
I like thin picks and most of the other pick makers only make them in heavy gauges.
The thinner picks are easier to shape.
Erv

[Jack Hanson]

I use Dunlops because they're relatively inexpensive and readily available. You could seemingly not go wrong shaping and wearing your picks the way this guy (Buddy Emmons) did:

[Daniel Wanless]

Thanks for the comments so far. By the way, I'd say I have average sized fingers too, not working with sausage fingers...

[Daniel Wanless]

Also, I doubt there are any right or wrong answers on picks. I find that if I rotate my wrist a bit clockwise and get my thumb more stretched out in front, then there is a benefit. I'm just not sure what is right/wrong/normal...

Mark, I had a look at your earlier thread and found it interesting. I'm just going to cycle through a few styles and see if I end up back at Dunlop or find something better. I tried plastic on my fingers, but didn't have great success with the hot water shaping and found them to be bulky.

[Mark Mansueto]

Another benefit to using Dunlops is that they've been around forever. I still have the first set of finger picks that I bought in 1981 and are almost identical to the set I bought last year!

[Erv Niehaus]

Mark,
Same with me, you can't wear 'em out.
Erv

[Fred Treece]

Your index finger may be dipped down too far between the strings, and the back of the fingernail is inadvertently touching string one. Practice keeping your index finger a little higher so that only the tip of the pick is resting on string 2. Find the resting position for both fingers and thumb that allows any finger to pick and sustain a string while the other picks are at rest.

Keep in mind that dipping your finger between strings is a valid blocking technique, but only after the desired string has been plucked and the note sustained for whatever time needed. There are long threads on this topic somewhere.

Some players just keep all the fingers away from the strings and palm block between notes. I believe most players use some combination of both fingertip and palm blocking. How the picks are shaped and worn may have something to do with those choices, as do the anatomical features of one’s fingers and the positioning of the pick hand.

PS I use Fred Kelly Slick Pick thumb picks, which I file down considerably shorter, and ACRI finger picks which fit my fingers perfectly the instant I put them on, no shaping or bending or filing. Not an endorsement, just responding to your question.

[Mark Mansueto]

Is it just me or do those strings in the Buddy Emmons picture look really close together? I only play 6-stringers and my strings are spread a lot more than that.

[Erv Niehaus]

On a ten string guitar, the strings are usually closer together than on a six stringer.
Erv

[Allan Revich]

I had a heck of a time adjusting to finger picks, and kept returning to using a flat pick. But these Propik brass finger picks with two “fingers” of their own are now my best friends. They are comfortable. They stay on. They don’t dig into my cuticles. And the brass isn’t as brash on the strings. I need to order a few more “just in case”

[Daniel Wanless]

I just had some of those delivered today Allan. Will take a bit of getting used to, but first impression is that I really like them and want to try some of their other styles. They feel very natural in a way that the Dunlops don’t.

[Gene Tani]

There's at least a few good vids on YT about finger and thumbpicks and RH technique (a great resource is lessons in Olympia with John McClung if you go back)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvxICmHhqp0

Paul Franklin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFumqjf8dRs

Gordon Hartin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGzrg1kFbC4